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Hey all, after getting my BA absolutely wrecked by some Tau(Missile-sides in particular), I starting thinking about bringing at least 2 squads of em in games above 1850.

What does Dakka think?

Lucarikx

Only worthwhile Broadside build in my opinion.

The only downside to it is the relatively short range but otherwise they are spectacular.

I would not say that, railside also got uses.

But the missileside is amazing, his only downside is the medicore range.

If you go railsides, I think you also need to invest in all of the missile drones you can. Since your not going to be targeting AV14 anyway with them, I think you need to do everything you can to increase their output.

I was just about to post a new thread, but I may as well post here:

Missileside is by far the better variant to take. The downside is lesser range, but he more than makes up for it in volume of fire. 36" is still decent enough range to hit a large amount of things first turn and nearly everything by second turn...
Railsides do have an advantage in being able to ID T4 models, which may be useful against some armies - however, T4 multiwound models are rare in many armies due to the proliferation of missile launchers, and Tau do have access to other S8 weaponry from Ion weaponry on other models.
Railsides can also potentially glance AV14 to death at an average of 0.16 HP per shot fired, you're going to take a long time. Leave that to fusion blasters, hammerheads riptides or even firewarriors.


I drew up this table of how an individual missileside performs vs TEQ, MEQ, GEQ, and AV10-14.
Railsides BS MEQ TEQ GEQ AV10 AV11 AV12 AV13 AV14 1 0.526 0.306 1.273 0.934 0.560 0.255 0.153 0.051 2 0.957 0.556 2.315 1.698 1.019 0.463 0.278 0.093 3 1.292 0.750 3.125 2.292 1.375 0.625 0.375 0.125 4 1.531 0.889 3.704 2.716 1.630 0.741 0.444 0.148 5 1.674 0.972 4.051 2.971 1.782 0.810 0.486 0.162 Missilesides BS MEQ TEQ GEQ AV10 AV11 AV12 AV13 AV14 1 0.611 0.306 2.037 1.494 0.951 0.475 0.204 0.000 2 1.111 0.556 3.704 2.716 1.728 0.864 0.370 0.000 3 1.500 0.750 5.000 3.667 2.333 1.167 0.500 0.000 4 1.778 0.889 5.926 4.346 2.765 1.383 0.593 0.000 5 1.944 0.972 6.481 4.753 3.025 1.512 0.648 0.000

Down the left side is the ballistic skill you're using... the columns for TEQ MEQ GEQ show the average number of wounds caused after saves, assuming no cover and no FNP - adding these in wouldn't really have an effect on the overall numbers. For vehicles, the number shown is the average number of hull points taken; if an explode is 3 HP and AP1 gets +2 to pen, a penetrate counts for 2 HP average with AP1 weapons and 1.333 HP average with AP3+ weapons.

We can see that while Railsides perform better against AV14 (duh), and comparably against TEQ, but apart from those two the Missileside wins out, particularly against AV10-12 (ie, flyers).

The math and data are rather compelling for missile sides. Range is going to be a major factor. I run into issues with 36" range on my pathfinders all the time. Sometimes you just need the ability to reach into an opponents deployment zone and get them.

While the Heavy Rail Rifle Broadside is technically better against AV14, it isn't good enough to warrant spending the points and HS slot on it. With a natural 0.125 chance of threatening AV14 that means you are going to have to shoot eight times before you statistically get one success; pretty terrible.

The "Railside" fills a niche that is unnecessary in this codex. If you are fighting AV10-12, the missile variant or missile pods/Ion spread across the whole army can do the job more efficiently. If you are fighting AV14, you are going to struggle because of the nerf to Broadsides but your best bet is the Longstrike Hammerhead and the improved Fusion Blasters.

The "Railside" does nothing better than other options in the book AND it occupies a valuable Heavy Support slot. Also, before anyone else says it is the best Anti-Air unit in the game, the Skyray will outperform it for a FAR more efficient point cost AND enable your non-skyfire units to outperform the "Railside" through its skyfire Markerlights. When a unit has redundant defenses like cover saves from zooming, a single shot like the Heavy Rail Rifle is absolute trash while saturating the target with many shots will statistically guarantee that at least one gets through and does some damage.

 Thaylen wrote:
The math and data are rather compelling for missile sides. Range is going to be a major factor. I run into issues with 36" range on my pathfinders all the time. Sometimes you just need the ability to reach into an opponents deployment zone and get them.

That is what the Hammerhead/Skyray/Riptide is for.

Trasvi wrote:
I was just about to post a new thread, but I may as well post here:

Missileside is by far the better variant to take. The downside is lesser range, but he more than makes up for it in volume of fire. 36" is still decent enough range to hit a large amount of things first turn and nearly everything by second turn...
Railsides do have an advantage in being able to ID T4 models, which may be useful against some armies - however, T4 multiwound models are rare in many armies due to the proliferation of missile launchers, and Tau do have access to other S8 weaponry from Ion weaponry on other models.
Railsides can also potentially glance AV14 to death at an average of 0.16 HP per shot fired, you're going to take a long time. Leave that to fusion blasters, hammerheads riptides or even firewarriors.


I drew up this table of how an individual missileside performs vs TEQ, MEQ, GEQ, and AV10-14.
Railsides BS MEQ TEQ GEQ AV10 AV11 AV12 AV13 AV14 1 0.526 0.306 1.273 0.934 0.560 0.255 0.153 0.051 2 0.957 0.556 2.315 1.698 1.019 0.463 0.278 0.093 3 1.292 0.750 3.125 2.292 1.375 0.625 0.375 0.125 4 1.531 0.889 3.704 2.716 1.630 0.741 0.444 0.148 5 1.674 0.972 4.051 2.971 1.782 0.810 0.486 0.162 Missilesides BS MEQ TEQ GEQ AV10 AV11 AV12 AV13 AV14 1 0.611 0.306 2.037 1.494 0.951 0.475 0.204 0.000 2 1.111 0.556 3.704 2.716 1.728 0.864 0.370 0.000 3 1.500 0.750 5.000 3.667 2.333 1.167 0.500 0.000 4 1.778 0.889 5.926 4.346 2.765 1.383 0.593 0.000 5 1.944 0.972 6.481 4.753 3.025 1.512 0.648 0.000

Down the left side is the ballistic skill you're using... the columns for TEQ MEQ GEQ show the average number of wounds caused after saves, assuming no cover and no FNP - adding these in wouldn't really have an effect on the overall numbers. For vehicles, the number shown is the average number of hull points taken; if an explode is 3 HP and AP1 gets +2 to pen, a penetrate counts for 2 HP average with AP1 weapons and 1.333 HP average with AP3+ weapons.

We can see that while Railsides perform better against AV14 (duh), and comparably against TEQ, but apart from those two the Missileside wins out, particularly against AV10-12 (ie, flyers).

That's a brutal amount of firepower, you've certainly convinced me of the effectiveness of Missilesides (and I have parts to make 4 of them...). Against 3+ saves and above it almost feels like playing Orks, simply overwhelm the target with saving throws. Thanks for doing the work!

Looks like fusion blasters, EMP and Riptide weaponry will have to take care of AV14 for me, though.

 SonicPara wrote:

The "Railside" does nothing better than other options in the book AND it occupies a valuable Heavy Support slot. Also, before anyone else says it is the best Anti-Air unit in the game, the Skyray will outperform it for a FAR more efficient point cost AND enable your non-skyfire units to outperform the "Railside" through its skyfire Markerlights.

The skyray is by far the worst of the HS choice for tanbusting because of its ridiculously limited ammo. It will kill one tank a game. Not a turn, a game. Markerlights can be got elsewhere and in much larger numbers. It actually will take all 6 of its missiles to destroy a single AV12 vehicle. Then its done for the game, nothing better than a mobile cover platform and a single markerlight.

I'd take a single missile broadside over the skyray anyday. At least its still damaging stuff after round 2.

 Jayden63 wrote:
The skyray is by far the worst of the HS choice for tanbusting because of its ridiculously limited ammo. It will kill one tank a game. Not a turn, a game. Markerlights can be got elsewhere and in much larger numbers. It actually will take all 6 of its missiles to destroy a single AV12 vehicle. Then its done for the game, nothing better than a mobile cover platform and a single markerlight.

It is also a skyfire TL SMS meaning it hits 75% of the time and ignores all flyer-related cover saves. Sure it is only S5 but against lighter flyers or rear armor of heavy ones it will shred them. Also, those skyfire Markerlights on the Skyray can make any other unit that doesn't have skyfire threaten flyers. The Markerlights on the Skyray have advantages that standard ones don't. Everyone is greatly underestimating the versatility of the Skyray once it blows its seekers. Give it a few months and people will be talking about how great Skyrays are after Tau comes through and starts dismantling established lists.

 Jayden63 wrote:
I'd take a single missile broadside over the skyray anyday. At least its still damaging stuff after round 2.

The comparison was to a Heavy Rail RIfle Broadside, not a HYMP Broadside. Of course the HYMP Broadside dishes out more damage and is a worthy use of a HS slot. That is why I said they are the only worthwhile build for a Broadside.

Skyfire markerlights - two of them @ BS4.

The 6-12 seeker missiles are a bonus.

Edit: In relation to OP - Missilesides are viable, especially when given access to skyfire marker lights. Ignore the 20pt/model support system & invest in a skyray or two.

If I'm not mistaken, because each of the markerlights and each of the seeker missiles is a separate weapon, the Skyray has pretty terrible firepower if you decide to move at all...? You only get a single weapon to shoot at full BS if you move 6", so effectively, Skyrays suck.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
EDIT: Missilesides outperform Railsides against T6SV3 monstrous creatures as well, but only barely.

Trasvi wrote:
If I'm not mistaken, because each of the markerlights and each of the seeker missiles is a separate weapon, the Skyray has pretty terrible firepower if you decide to move at all...? You only get a single weapon to shoot at full BS if you move 6", so effectively, Skyrays suck.

You are targetting fliers that will have no hope of hiding behind terrain so you deploy the Skyray forward, behind some sort of cover. It has 36" range on the Markerlights and 72" range on the missiles; you never need to move it until AFTER you've blown your payload and transition into a front-line support vehicle.

If Skyrays effectively suck at all it would be due to the limitations of 36" range on the Markerlights but the 36" range Missile Broadside does just fine with the same range.

Effectively, Skyrays are great when utilized properly. They are not a mobile, main battle tank. They sit in one spot, unload their payload, support other units through markerlights, and THEN start moving if you need an AV13 wall to support your lines. The Skyray is one of the most versatile support vehicles you will ever see and it comes with the added bonus of being able to skyfire six S8/AP3 shots at BS4 in a single turn.

Its kinda sad when 36" range is called "mediocre"...
Hell i play Nids and i am happy with getting within 18" on most of my guns, with a odd 30+" here and there.

I use 3 squads of missile Broadsides. They are amazing. I love that I can use them vs. Infantry and lay down a ton of wounds and they've done well for me vs a variety of different targets. The 36" range can be a little bit of a downside, but in Vanguard Strike and Dawn of War it isn't an issue. On Hammer and Anvil it can be a bit of an annoyance, but you can also move them up if you need to, which is what I have been doing.

Missile Broadsides strike me as mediocre. Just too easy to remove or avoid. The heavy rail rifle seems to be a much better option because it will reliably get its shots in and can be better protected. The exception is with a Bastion. I think missile Broadsides inside a Bastion will be extremely dangerous.

 Kingsley wrote:
The heavy rail rifle seems to be a much better option because it will reliably get its shots in

Buh? Railside is much LESS reliable than missiles.

 DarknessEternal wrote:

 Kingsley wrote:
The heavy rail rifle seems to be a much better option because it will reliably get its shots in

Buh? Railside is much LESS reliable than missiles.

Per-shot, yeah. But the increased range of the Railside means on average it will be firing more shots per game, especially in critical early turns.

 Kingsley wrote:
Missile Broadsides strike me as mediocre. Just too easy to remove or avoid. The heavy rail rifle seems to be a much better option because it will reliably get its shots in and can be better protected. The exception is with a Bastion. I think missile Broadsides inside a Bastion will be extremely dangerous.

How are they too easy to remove and avoid? 2/3 Deployments put players very close to each other. Most armies in 40k these days arent even playing the ranged game. Necrons, Grey Knights, Daemons, Orks, Tyranids. All those armies are more mid-range or close-range. Most SM variant lists I see these days are also closer ranged. Even many of the IG lists are packing big blobs that can more aggressively reach midfield. Hammer and Anvil can be an issue, but it really isn't that likely. In that deployment my Broadsides still see a ton of action, I just generally am forced to spend a turn moving, running and snap-firing (Ethereal bonus is nice in this case).

I've used missile Broadsides in over 10 games now against a variety of opponents and haven't once had an issue with them being avoided or easily removed. The HYMP is much better than the Rail Rifle due to its rate of fire. Mathhammer might not always tell the whole truth, but i'd say in this case the numbers make a pretty strong case.

If Broadsides are easy to remove, so are Hammerheads and Skyrays (hell, these can get destroyed in one lucky shot, a squad of Broadsides are very unlikely to experience the same fate).

I can understand someone preferring a squadron of Railsides for the AP1, I guess, but I really can't understand how anyone would go as far as to say they are much better. That simply doesn't seem right.

If you deploy your Broadsides forward, they'll easily get killed against many opponents. You unfortunately often need to put them further back into your deployment area so that you can layer defenses-- however, the HYMP's range precludes this and allows enemies to avoid your Broadsides. This is especially important if you're relying on Broadsides for anti-air. The HRR Broadside doesn't care about this because it can sit further back in your deployment zone and still engage the enemy.

 Kingsley wrote:
If you deploy your Broadsides forward, they'll easily get killed against many opponents. You unfortunately often need to put them further back into your deployment area so that you can layer defenses-- however, the HYMP's range precludes this and allows enemies to avoid your Broadsides. This is especially important if you're relying on Broadsides for anti-air. The HRR Broadside doesn't care about this because it can sit further back in your deployment zone and still engage the enemy.

How many weapons that are 36" range are going to effectively threaten Broadsides? The worst ranged weapon for Broadsides to face are probably Lascannons, which will generally be able to target Railsides as well. Especially depending on terrain placement. With many terrain set-ups it won't even be possible to place your Broadsides near board edges due to things like hills, ruins and buildings obstructing their LoS.

Flyers have to move 18", so in 2 deployments they will generally be closer to midfield. I haven't once had a problem engaging Flyers including Vendettas, which have one of the better range-bands of any flyer, with my Broadsides.

How many games have you played with the HYMP to come to this conclusion? So far I haven't had any issues, maybe if I did, I'd be more sympathetic to your viewpoint, but from my testing they have been nothing short of brilliant. Far, far better than the Railsides, which I also tried out.

LValx wrote:
Flyers have to move 18", so in 2 deployments they will generally be closer to midfield. I haven't once had a problem engaging Flyers including Vendettas, which have one of the better range-bands of any flyer, with my Broadsides.

If Broadsides are your anti-air, can't the Vendettas just go into Hover Mode and shoot you from outside your range? Most good flyers don't have to Zoom...

LValx wrote:
How many games have you played with the HYMP to come to this conclusion? So far I haven't had any issues, maybe if I did, I'd be more sympathetic to your viewpoint, but from my testing they have been nothing short of brilliant. Far, far better than the Railsides, which I also tried out.

None yet-- my conclusion comes primarily from witnessing other games. The number of units that are good against Missilesides but not against Railsides just seems too high for me to field them without a Bastion, and that makes the army considerably more static.

Overall I think it's a largely academic point because Hammerheads and Skyrays are thus far looking vastly better than Broadsides anyway-- I'm leaning towards 2x Skyray, 1x Longstrike Railhead in my Heavy Support-- but I have considered running HRR/SMS Broadsides with Interceptor rather than the Railhead, as these provide similar anti-tank against common targets while also dealing with Marbo and the Doom of Malantai quite handily.

 Kingsley wrote:

LValx wrote:
Flyers have to move 18", so in 2 deployments they will generally be closer to midfield. I haven't once had a problem engaging Flyers including Vendettas, which have one of the better range-bands of any flyer, with my Broadsides.

If Broadsides are your anti-air, can't the Vendettas just go into Hover Mode and shoot you from outside your range? Most good flyers don't have to Zoom...

LValx wrote:
How many games have you played with the HYMP to come to this conclusion? So far I haven't had any issues, maybe if I did, I'd be more sympathetic to your viewpoint, but from my testing they have been nothing short of brilliant. Far, far better than the Railsides, which I also tried out.

None yet-- my conclusion comes primarily from witnessing other games. The number of units that are good against Missilesides but not against Railsides just seems too high for me to field them without a Bastion, and that makes the army considerably more static.

Overall I think it's a largely academic point because Hammerheads and Skyrays are thus far looking vastly better than Broadsides anyway-- I'm leaning towards 2x Skyray, 1x Longstrike Railhead in my Heavy Support-- but I have considered running HRR/SMS Broadsides with Interceptor rather than the Railhead, as these provide similar anti-tank against common targets while also dealing with Marbo and the Doom of Malantai quite handily.

Vendettas cant hover the first turn they come on, so they will still have moved their mandatory 18" the first turn. In my experience, at this point i'll have most likely knocked at least one out of the sky. If they hover they become more susceptible to my shooting. I see this as a viable tactic during Hammer and Anvil, but that deployment is just 1/3 possible deployments. On Dawn of War it'll be much more difficult to stay out of 36" of all 3 Broadside units and if a Vendetta goes into hover I can paint it with Markerlights and make 1 squad of Broadsides very likely to do significant damage.

I think Skyrays have a place and can be used very well. But vastly superior? I think you're making too strong of a statement. Their shooting isn't great and like all vehicles they are still very susceptible to shaken/stunned or explodes results. Hammerheads are good as well, but I think that the lack of RoF leaves something to be desired and they suffer from similar issues as the Skyray.

I'll take a bunch of shots of lesser quality over a small number of high quality shots. Maybe that is where our difference in opinion stems from. And maybe our gaming scenes are different, but on the East Coast there is much larger emphasis on infantry targets. The Missilesides outperform all the other HS options when being able to deal with infantry. 154 points for 2 Broadsides, 2 Drones pumps out 8 TL str 7, 4 bs2 str 7 and 8 TL str. 5 ignores cover/terrain. That allows me to threaten a multitude of targets. In fact, unless my opponent is fielding Raiders/Monoliths, i'll always have a decent target to shoot at. If my "meta" was more mech heavy, maybe i'd consider Hammerheads, but it isn't and so I prefer the versatility and amount of shots I can get out of Missilesides.

LValx wrote:
Vendettas cant hover the first turn they come on,

Is there some special rule that I'm missing? The rulebook seems to allow it-- "a Flyer with the Hover type must declare whether it is going to Zoom or Hover before it moves each Movement phase. This means that, if the Flyer arrives from reserve, you must declare which type of movement it is using before placing it on the board." (p. 81)

LValx wrote:
I think Skyrays have a place and can be used very well. But vastly superior? I think you're making too strong of a statement. Their shooting isn't great and like all vehicles they are still very susceptible to shaken/stunned or explodes results. Hammerheads are good as well, but I think that the lack of RoF leaves something to be desired and they suffer from similar issues as the Skyray.

Skyrays aren't just a shooting unit, though-- they're also a very potent support element. Hammerheads have low rate of fire but make up for it with pie plates and really powerful shots, which you do need to have somewhere in a serious list.

LValx wrote:
I'll take a bunch of shots of lesser quality over a small number of high quality shots. Maybe that is where our difference in opinion stems from. And maybe our gaming scenes are different, but on the East Coast there is much larger emphasis on infantry targets. The Missilesides outperform all the other HS options when being able to deal with infantry. 154 points for 2 Broadsides, 2 Drones pumps out 8 TL str 7, 4 bs2 str 7 and 8 TL str. 5 ignores cover/terrain. That allows me to threaten a multitude of targets. In fact, unless my opponent is fielding Raiders/Monoliths, i'll always have a decent target to shoot at. If my "meta" was more mech heavy, maybe i'd consider Hammerheads, but it isn't and so I prefer the versatility and amount of shots I can get out of Missilesides.

I see a fair amount of infantry, but not the multiple blob armies that seem to be popular in some areas. To be honest, I'm not sure why those are still on the field-- if I can table a Green Tide (and I can), dealing with blob armies is substantially easier. Of course, I might just be biased by the fact that I frequently saw those armies in 5th edition, when they were much better, and didn't have too much trouble even then... in any case, Tau don't strike me as an army that needs more mid-strength shots from its Heavy Support. Smart Missiles are nice, but the HYMP seems like more of the same to me.

I guess we disagree on a lot of points. I think Blobs are vastly superior in 6th edition. There are also a ton of them over here. The Tony Kopach blob list seems to be quite popular and it is very formidable. Most Marine players seem to be gravitating towards a blob or two due to the prevalence of Heldrakes.

Blobs make sense in 6th. Transports aren't nearly as good as they were before, lots of nerfs. In my area the NOVA format is generally preferred and that format rewards players for bringing durable infantry blocks. Vehicles just don't do particularly well with the way their missions are set-up.

I do agree that Skyrays are great support, but my list would change drastically if I were to field them. Broadsides fit better for what role I want them to fill. I've never been a big fan of large-blasts. Too inaccurate and susceptible to opponents that are meticulous in spacing their units.

The Vendetta thing, I just assumed they must enter zooming. I've never had an opponent come on the board hovering with any Flyer. So I may be wrong.

LValx wrote:
I guess we disagree on a lot of points. I think Blobs are vastly superior in 6th edition. There are also a ton of them over here. The Tony Kopach blob list seems to be quite popular and it is very formidable. Most Marine players seem to be gravitating towards a blob or two due to the prevalence of Heldrakes. Blobs make sense in 6th.

The original "Kopach blob list" strikes me as very "early 5th" and not necessarily good in current 40k. In the modern environment blobs just don't make much sense to me-- every 6th edition Codex has very powerful answers to blobs. As for Heldrakes, I prefer destroying them. "Ignore the flyer" tactics seem a lot better in the pre-Heldrake/Codex: Chaos Daemons environment.

LValx wrote:
Transports aren't nearly as good as they were before, lots of nerfs. In my area the NOVA format is generally preferred and that format rewards players for bringing durable infantry blocks. Vehicles just don't do particularly well with the way their missions are set-up.

I'm not too familiar with the NOVA format, but I'll say that transports seem quite effective to me in standard missions and the very similar BAO scenario. The only real weakness is that they can give up First Blood, and that can easily be mitigated through proper tactics. Sure, they aren't insane like they were in 5th edition, but he late game Tank Shock fests of 5th edition weren't exactly fun.

LValx wrote:
The Vendetta thing, I just assumed they must enter zooming. I've never had an opponent come on the board hovering with any Flyer. So I may be wrong.

I'm pretty confident it's allowed, unless there's some passage in the IG FAQ that I haven't read. Most flyers are short-ranged so it doesn't come up too often, but this tactic can be very effective with a Vendetta or Stormtalon with Skyhammer Missile Launcher, allowing you to come on outside the range of enemy AA and in some cases stand off with them indefinitely.

We must have played a very different 5th edition as well. Because the all foot SW/Blob list probably wouldn't have fared well in 5th.. But in 6th it was brilliant (at least until Drakes showed up)

Most marine armies don't have good answers to Heldrakes. Allied Vendettas won't do enough to stop 3 Drakes from really messing up the Marines.

Transports aren't dead, I wouldn't make that sort of blanket statement, they just aren't the auto-take they were in 5th. Razorbacks especially seem less than optimal because the squad sizes are small and it is hard to expect 5 marines to hold an objective.

LValx wrote:
We must have played a very different 5th edition as well. Because the all foot SW/Blob list probably wouldn't have fared well in 5th.. But in 6th it was brilliant (at least until Drakes showed up)

In 5th edition, blobs were scary in assault, had 4+ cover almost all the time, and removed models from the back. Now, blobs aren't scary in assault, have no cover almost all the time, and remove models from the front.

LValx wrote:
Most marine armies don't have good answers to Heldrakes. Allied Vendettas won't do enough to stop 3 Drakes from really messing up the Marines.

I find that two Stormtalons, Null Zone, a Quad-gun (sometimes with Tank Hunters) and then various other soft counters do the job just fine. I've actually yet to lose a game to an army with a Heldrake! 3 Heldrakes doesn't seem all-comers anyway, unless one of those has a Hades Autocannon, which is very suboptimal against MEQs.

LValx wrote:
Transports aren't dead, I wouldn't make that sort of blanket statement, they just aren't the auto-take they were in 5th. Razorbacks especially seem less than optimal because the squad sizes are small and it is hard to expect 5 marines to hold an objective.

Yeah, I definitely do tend to prefer Rhinos to Razorbacks in 6th, though that might change if Riptides get really popular. When you get right down to it 35 points for a storm bolter, mobile LoS blocking terrain, the ability to Tank Shock, etc. seems more than worth it.

Well, 2 Storm Talons and a Quadgun is a fair bit of AA. But Space Wolves and GK have a harder time (Storm Raven is nice, but tough to fit in when your marines are GK-expensive)

I disagree with your assessment of Blobs. Significantly better with ATSKNF, Prescience and Axes that give them +1 Str.

IG Blob squads are really good in this edition, especially as allies to ATSKNF characters. They fill a niche that MEQ armies are sorely missing - cheap, expendable bodies - in this age of necron flyer-spam and triple-heldrakes. I myself use a blob squad (with orks of all armies! ) and am considering allying them to my grey knights.

As for missile-sides, I don't really have any experience with them but I can see them doing well in this edition. The only problem is the lack of ranged AT to deal with tougher armor. If I were to run 1 unit of missile-sides (and I wouldn't run more than 1 for the same reason I wouldn't run more than 1 unit of khorne-dogs in a daemon army), I'd probably also run either 2 railheads or 1 railhead and 1 skyray. Personally, I'm leaning more towards 2 railheads.